Drought, Alexander
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 31, 11:59 PM EST
- Where
- Alexander forecast zone
- Reported by
- Newspaper
- Coordinates
- 35.921, -81.177 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Dry weather persisted across much of the area for most of August, although portions of the North Carolina Piedmont began to see relief from the dry conditions early in the month, due to an increase in daily thunderstorm activity. Elsewhere, exceptional drought conditions persisted and even expanded slightly westward to cover more of far western North Carolina and northeast Georgia.
Every event with a place to put it; 34 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.
Dry weather persisted across much of the area for most of August, although portions of the North Carolina Piedmont began to see relief from the dry conditions early in the month, due to an increase in daily thunderstorm activity. Elsewhere, exceptional drought conditions persisted and even expanded slightly westward to cover more of far western North Carolina and northeast Georgia. During the early part of the month, flows on most of the major streams across the area were running at record low levels, with the French Broad River setting a minimum flow record that had stood for almost 100 years. Only a handful of streams were running at more than 1 to 7 percent of normal. Groundwater levels were 2-5 feet below normal. Significant agricultural impacts persisted, with losses to summer crops, including hay, estimated at 30%. The dry weather also affected the livestock industry, due to shortages of pasture crops necessary for feeding.
By the end of the month, Tropical Storm Fay had dropped up to 11 inches of rainfall across the area, providing some relief from the drought conditions, especially across the North Carolina Piedmont.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 8:02 PM EST, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 902 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT...THEN WASH OUT TO THE SOUTH ON FRIDAY. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE IN FROM THE NORTH LATE SATURDAY AND STALL JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK...BEFORE MOVING BACK TO THE NORTH TUESDAY. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING/... CONVECTION CONTINUES TO WEAKEN WITH COOLING BUT THERE IS STILL ENOUGH INSTABILITY TO HOLD ON TO CHANCE POPS UNTIL THE H5 SHORT WAVE PASSES AFTER MIDNIGHT. MORNING LOWS WILL COOL TO AROUND 70 ACROSS THE PIEDMONT WITH 60S MTNS. TWEAKED HOURLY TEMP/DP/RH THIS UPDATE AND SINCE AIR BECOMES NEARLY SATURATED ADDED PATCHY FOG AROUND DAYBREAK. MODEL SOUNDINGS IMPLY DEWPOINTS WILL MIX INTO THE U50S TO L60S OVER MUCH OF THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT FRIDAY...EFFECTIVELY CAPPING THE AIRMASS. THE NC MOUNTAINS...PARTICULARLY ALONG THE TN LINE...MAY SOME SOME TSTM ACTIVITY IN THE AFTERNOON...THOUGH COVERAGE WILL BE QUITE SPARSE AS THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MUCH DRIER ALOFT TOMORROW. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... AT 120 PM EDT THURSDAY...A S/W APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE NW...AS IT ROUNDS THE WRN SIDE OF AN EASTERN CONUS TROF. A WEAK FRONT/SFC TROF ASSOC WITH THIS ENERGY IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN N OF THE AREA THRU SATURDAY AFTN. MEANWHILE...BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE A STALLED BNDRY ALONG THE GULF COAST...KEEPING THE DEEP GULF AND ATLANTIC MOISTURE S OF THE AREA. SO MEAGER MODEL QPF IS GENERATED WITH THE PASSING S/W ACROSS THE SRN APPLNS. HENCE...I HAVE JUST A LOW-END CHC POP FOR MOST OF THE MTNS AND NC FOOTHILLS/NW PIEDMONT...AND SCHC S. AN AXIS OF 20-22C H8 TEMPS ACROSS THE SE STATES THRU THE CAROLINAS SHUD ALLOW MAX TEMPS TO REACH THE MID/UPR 90S ACROSS MOST OF THE PIEDMONT SATURDAY. AXIS OF UPR TROF WILL SHIFT E OF THE APPLNS SATURDAY NIGHT...KEEPING THE AREA UNDER NW FLOW FROM SUNDAY THRU MONDAY NIGHT. A MID LVL RIDGE BUILDS OVR THE LWR MS VALLEY AND EWD...WITH RELATIVELY DRY HI PRES AT THE SFC ALLOWING FOR A DRY FCST WITH SLIGHTLY ABV AVG MAX TEMPS AND PLEASANT OVRNGT MINS (FOR EARLY AUG). A BLEND OF 00Z/31 MEX MOS AND HPC GUIDANCE WAS USED FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... AS OF 130PM THURSDAY...THE GFS AND THE ECMWF APPEARED TO BE IN GOOD STANDING WITH EACH OTHER OUT UNTIL DAYS 6 AND 7...SO DECIDED TO GO WITH THE HPC DECISION OF USING GFS FOR THE EXTENDED RANGE FORECAST. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE REGION FROM 12Z WEDNEDSDAY THROUGH THE DAY THURSDAY UNTIL THE RIDGE WEAKENS AND IS PUSHED OUT BY AN UPPER LEVEL TROF. THE WEAK FRONT AHEAD OF THE TROF IS EXPECTED TO BRING SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS STARTING THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS THE FRONT APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE NORTH.TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL UNTIL THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE AREA LATER IN THE WEEKEND. TEMPERATURES WILL RUN ANYWHERE FROM 5 TO 8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE CWFA. && .AVIATION /01Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... SCT STORMS STILL PSBL UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT BUT CHANCE TOO LOW TO INCLUDE IN TAFS ATTM. EXPECT EARLY MRNG MVFR FOG ALL SITES WITH TEMPO IFR AT KAVL AND KHKY. SW WINDS WILL GO LIGHT OVERNIGHT BEFORE PICKING UP FROM THE N TO NW FRI. WEAK LEE TROF SETS UP IN THE AFTN ACROSS THE SC PIEDMONT SO WINDS SWING W TO SW AFT 18Z. OUTLOOK...A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE NW SAT BRINGING A CHANCE OF TSTMS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN BEHIND THE FRONT SUN WITH FAIR CONDITIONS EARLY IN THE WEEK. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...RB NEAR TERM...MCAVOY/RB SHORT TERM...ARK LONG TERM...SBK AVIATION...RB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 911 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-020115- RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-AVERY-ALEXANDER- IREDELL-DAVIE-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-CATAWBA- ROWAN-GRAHAM-NORTHERN JACKSON-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA- HENDERSON-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-UNION NC- CALDWELL MOUNTAINS-GREATER CALDWELL-BURKE MOUNTAINS-GREATER BURKE- MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS-EASTERN MCDOWELL-RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS- GREATER RUTHERFORD-POLK MOUNTAINS-EASTERN POLK-OCONEE MOUNTAINS- PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-GREATER OCONEE- GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-CHEROKEE-YORK- ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER-GREENWOOD- 911 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS MAY CREATE HEAT ADVISORY CONDITIONS MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
814 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0312 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 N CAMPOBELLO 35.15N 82.15W
07/31/2008 SPARTANBURG SC NWS EMPLOYEE
A COUPLE OF LARGE TREE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN APPROXIMATELY 2
MILES NORTH OF CAMPOBELLO.
&&
JPTSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 854 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 NCZ048-051>053-058-059-010200- BUNCOMBE-GRAHAM-HAYWOOD-MADISON-NORTHERN JACKSON-SWAIN- 854 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT GRAHAM...HAYWOOD...NORTHWESTERN JACKSON...SOUTHERN MADISON...SWAIN AND WESTERN BUNCOMBE COUNTIES THROUGH 1000 PM EDT... AT 850 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MARSHALL TO 22 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MARYVILLE...MOVING SOUTH AT 17 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE NEAR... WEAVERVILLE BY 900 PM EDT. WAYNESVILLE AND CANTON BY 945 PM EDT. BRYSON CITY BY 1000 PM EDT. WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. LANE
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
912 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0630 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 N CLINTON 34.51N 81.87W
07/31/2008 LAURENS SC COUNTY OFFICIAL
TREES DOWN JUST NORTH OF CLINTON.
&&
JPTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
945 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0420 PM TSTM WND DMG GREAT FALLS 34.57N 80.90W
07/31/2008 CHESTER SC COUNTY OFFICIAL
4 POWER LINES REPORTED DOWN AND 1 TREE FELL ONTO A BANK.
&&
JPTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1037 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0410 PM TSTM WND DMG WOODRUFF 34.74N 82.03W
07/31/2008 SPARTANBURG SC COUNTY OFFICIAL
NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN WOODRUFF.
&&
JPTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1048 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0500 PM TSTM WND DMG EASLEY 34.82N 82.59W
07/31/2008 PICKENS SC COUNTY OFFICIAL
3 TREES DOWN IN EASLEY.
&&
JPTThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
34 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 132616, 132617, 132618, 132619, 132620, 132621, 132622, 132623, 132624, 132625, 132626, 132627, 132628, 132629, 132630, 132631, 132632, 132633, 132634, 132635, 132636, 132637, 132638, 132639, 132640, 132641, 132642, 132643, 132644, 132645, 132646, 132647, 132648, 132649.